Make U.S. High-Tech Manufacturing Tempting

Officially, Manufacturing Day falls on Friday, October 5. Thousands of North American Manufacturers are throwing open their doors to give the general public a sense of just how cool today’s manufacturing really is.

Best of all, there’s a good story to tell. U.S. manufacturing is the largest in the world, producing 18.2% of the world's goods. Manufacturing is forecast to increase faster than the general economy. The MAPI Foundation estimates that U.S. manufacturing production will grow more quickly more quickly than the general economy achieving 2.8% growth from 2018 to 2021. New manufacturing technologies are increasing worker productivity and wages are on the upswing.

High-tech industries accounted for 14.5 million jobs and about 9.9% of total wage and salary employment in 2016, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In addition, high-tech industry workers enjoy higher median wages than other industries. In a recent report, Brian Roberts and Michael Wolf, economists in the Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said:

High-tech industries are an essential part of the U.S. economy, providing almost 10 percent of all jobs, but producing over 18 percent of output in 2016. This higher output per worker is reflected in wages, which are higher in high-tech industries for nearly every type of occupation. High-tech industries are projected to increase their share of total output through 2026, while maintaining their share of employment. Employment in the high tech sector is projected to continue to shift towards service-providing industries over the next decade, from 82.8% of high-tech employment in 2016 to 85% in 2026.

At the same time, there is some reason for concern. Current tariff changes, for example, may negatively impact high-tech electronics manufacturing. These organizations are going to have to grow strategically and find new sources of strong employees. Manufacturing Day could be part of that.

The infographic below outlines the most recent statistics about Manufacturing Day. Is your company going to participate? If so, let us know in the comments section below.